A U.S. government compilation of interviews and other public statements issued by Usama bin Laden between 1994 and 2004 is now publicly available (pdf).
The texts were translated by the CIA’s Foreign Broadcast Information Service (which has since been succeeded by the Open Source Center).
The 289-page collection has not been approved for public release, but a copy was obtained by Secrecy News. See “Compilation of Usama Bin Laden Statements, 1994 – January 2004,” Foreign Broadcast Information Service, January 2004.
“Western books: the Middle East from the rise of Islam” is a collection of 10,000 microfiche containing over 2,500 pre-1921 Western-language titles, selected from the collections of the Harvard University library. I did some spot checking and found that the collection is partially but by no means completely duplicated by titles available in Google Books.
Click here to view an online guide that you can browse or search to get an idea of the titles contained in this amazing resource. The guide is indispensible because the individual titles are not traced in UT’s online library catalog. A complete description of the collection is also available.
For the next few months (until 31 March), the first volume of Encyclopaedia Islamica (containing articles from “A” to “Abu Hanifah”) is available in online format. During this period of trial access, you can get to the text by choosing “Encyclopedia of Islam” from the list of articles and databases on the library’s web page.
This volume of Encyclopaedia Islamica is the first of a projected 16-volume publication, consisting of an abridged and edited translation of the Persian Dāʾirat al-Maʿārif-i Buzurg-i Islāmī, one of the most comprehensive sources on Islam and the Muslim world. One unique feature of this work of reference lies in the attention it gives to Shiʿi Islam and its rich and diverse heritage, which makes it complementary to other encyclopaedias. In addition to providing entries on important themes, subjects and personages in Islam generally, it offers the western reader an opportunity to appreciate the various dimensions of Shiʿi Islam, the Persian contribution to Islamic civilisation, and the spiritual dimensions of the Islamic tradition.
